Official "This Day In History" thread

[Uncwilly]

No one noted this yesterday ( 7 DEC 2022).
On 7 DEC 2018, the largest currently known prime was discovered.

Happy 4th Birthday to M51

[LaurV]

There would be 33 years today, from the Romanian Public Agglomeration, some call it revolution, when a clever opportunist communist stole the power from another stupid communist, with the help of some people with big dreams, then he betrayed them shattering their dreams too. We still keep a bottle of champagne to open when he will die (if not already, we didn't keep track, but we promise we will open it and get drunk first time we randomly read the obituary in some online newspaper).

[tServo]

(slightly late)

On Christmas day, 2021, The James Webb telescope was launched.
The launch and deployment went nearly perfectly and astronomers
and other scientists are ecstatic about the results so far.

[Dr Sardonicus]

January 5

1709 The Great Frost begins during the night, a sudden cold snap that remains Europe's coldest ever winter. Thousands are killed across the continent and crops fail in France.

1781 British naval expedition led by Benedict Arnold burns Richmond, Virginia

1886 Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde by Robert Louis Stevenson published by Longmans, Green & Co.

With every day, and from both sides of my intelligence, the moral and the intellectual, I thus drew steadily nearer to that truth, by whose partial discovery I have been doomed to such a dreadful shipwreck: that man is not truly one, but truly two.

[rudy235]

January 7 1610

This day Galileo Galilei discovered 3 moons of Jupiter (presumable I, II, III (or Io, Ganymede, Europa). A few days later he discovered the fourth (presumably IV or Callisto).

No other moon of Jupiter was discovered until almost 180 years later when Barnard saw Jupiter V or better known as Amalthea, which is incidentally the fifth largest moon of Jupiter. By the way, Amalthea was the last moon discovered by direct observation (as opposed to with the help of photography)

[xilman]

Originally Posted by rudy235

January 7 1610

This day Galileo Galilei discovered 3 moons of Jupiter (presumable I, II, III (or Io, Ganymede, Europa). A few days later he discovered the fourth (presumably IV or Callisto).

No other moon of Jupiter was discovered until almost 180 years later when Barnard saw Jupiter V or better known as Amalthea, which is incidentally the fifth largest moon of Jupiter. By the way, Amalthea was the last moon discovered by direct observation (as opposed to with the help of photography)

And Phoebe, Saturn IX, was the first to be discovered photographically in 1899.

[rudy235]

Originally Posted by xilman

And Phoebe, Saturn IX, was the first to be discovered photographically in 1899.

Yes, plates were taken in Arequipa, of all places.

[Dr Sardonicus]

Originally Posted by rudy235

January 7 1610

This day Galileo Galilei discovered 3 moons of Jupiter (presumable I, II, III (or Io, Ganymede, Europa). A few days later he discovered the fourth (presumably IV or Callisto).

No other moon of Jupiter was discovered until almost 180 years later when Barnard saw Jupiter V or better known as Amalthea, which is incidentally the fifth largest moon of Jupiter. By the way, Amalthea was the last moon discovered by direct observation (as opposed to with the help of photography)

On December 28, 1612, Galileo saw what he thought was a fixed star very close to Jupiter. The "fixed star" was actually the planet Neptune.

His continued observations of the moons of Jupiter led him to conclude that they were in fact orbiting Jupiter. He wrote of his discoveries in Sidereus Nuncius or The Starry Messenger, published in 1610.

EDIT:
January 8

1310 The Great Frost: in London the Thames river froze so thickly bonfires were lit on it

1610 Simon Marius. a German astronomer, independently discovers the first three moons of Jupiter one day after Galileo

1790 1^st US President George Washington delivers 1^st state of the union address

1816 Sophie Germain is the first woman to win a prize from the Paris Academy of Sciences for her paper on elasticity

[xilman]

Originally Posted by rudy235

January 7 1610

This day Galileo Galilei discovered 3 moons of Jupiter (presumable I, II, III (or Io, Ganymede, Europa). A few days later he discovered the fourth (presumably IV or Callisto).

Thatś a good point. I have often seen reproductions of his sketches and it is easy to calculate the positions of the satellites on any given date. Consequently, if the sketches are dated, and whether the dates are Julian or Gregorian, it should also be possible to identify the satellites sketched.

[rudy235]

Originally Posted by xilman

Thatś a good point. I have often seen reproductions of his sketches and it is easy to calculate the positions of the satellites on any given date. Consequently, if the sketches are dated, and whether the dates are Julian or Gregorian, it should also be possible to identify the satellites sketched.

Yeah, but for what is worth Callisto has the highest apparent magnitude of the four and if you can first see a moon with the highest magnitude it would only take one night or two to catch one with a lower magnitude. Other things being equal.

[Batalov]

January 18, 1882 - Alan Alexander Milne was born.